Trip to Texas

We tried driving through the night on the way there, and it worked WONDERFULLY! I drove only about 2 1/2 hours, then went to sleep, and Chad drove another 7 hours while I fitfully slept. The boys slept till 6 am, and Fiona woke up only a couple of times and fussed minimally. It was GREAT. Now, it did take Chad the whole next to day to recover, but that's okay.

First stop: Friendswood, TX to see Granmama and Grandaddy. We went blueberry picking:

  

and Grandaddy took the boys fishing with a homemade fishing pole:  

  

Ethan caught his first fish!!! And then caught another 4 by himself and 6 more with help.

I was there for awhile, but I wasn't quite so sure about the heat and humidity. I'll take some air conditioning, please: 

Benji had some koolaid and some cheetos. Here's the incriminating evidence: 

                                               We went to the beach in Galveston:

  

                                            and built sandcastles:

Next stop: North Richland Hills to see Grammy and Gramps.

Fiona had her first ice cream cone: 

                            uh ... this is Uncle Bryan licking his imaginary ice cream cone:

Benji was given a birthday party: 

 And we tried out darndest to get a good picture of all the kids smiling with the grandparents. Fiona didn't make it easy on us.

                                                    This is the best we could do:

                                                       and one with Great Grandma:

It took me several days to unpack and get everything put away. Here's Fiona trying on sunglasses to look like a cool chick while I'm trying to unpack.

                                                Is her belly not the cutest little thing?